Friday, August 2, 2013

Barry Silk’s New York Times crossword

NY Times crossword solution, 8 2 13, no 0802

I wasn’t loving this puzzle. When your first word in the grid is TINCT, it doesn’t bode well. Plus, I misunderstood 1a. [Food item resembling an organ]. I was picturing the large musical instrument with a keyboard and drew a blank. Ran the clue by my husband and son just now; husband said KIDNEY BEAN (ding, ding! we have a winner!) and the kid said liver.

Weirdly, my favorite thing in this grid is where LULU is mirrored by ULUL(ATE) in row five.

Deb Amlen mentioned to me that she wrote about meeting one of the people in tonight’s puzzle. So of course I said, “So you actually know BRAD AWL??” He is clued as 41a: [Cousin of a screwdriver], but I don’t know who this screwdriver fellow is.

Ten clues to discuss:

11a. [Not long-departed], LATE. Is this implying that the usage “the late Brad Awl” is only applied to people who died recently? Because I don’t think that’s the case. What’s your take on the clue?

25a. [Be loud at a funeral, say], ULULATE. Shoot, I have been missing out on ululating at all my funerals. It’s primarily a Middle Eastern custom, to my knowledge.

44a. [Largest city in the South Pacific], SUVA. Capital of Fiji. Anyone else fall for the 4-letter South Pacific crosswordese city trap of APIA?

46a. [Six bells in the morning watch], SEVEN A.M. Somebody who knows how that works, please explain. My first guess was THREE AM, one bell for every half hour.

56a. [It replaced the Indian rupee in 1932], IRAQI DINAR. The English had the Iraqis using Indian currency?

61a. [Ithaca is at its southern end], CAYUGA LAKE. Ithaca, New York, not the Greek island. Needed almost all the crossings.

63a. [His Secret Service code name was Providence], EISENHOWER. It would be neater if Providence was a cryptogram for EISENHOWER.

6d. [Casual assent], YEH. Bleh.

14d. [Compact first name?], ESTEE. I was thinking of compact cars rather than powder compacts.

32d. [Home of the Black Mts.], N. CAR. I’m sure the mountains are lovely, but I loathe NCAR as a crossword entry. Hardly anyone uses anything but N.C. or NC. Even the old GPO abbreviation was N.C.

Alas, my list of favorite fill is limited to KIDNEY BEAN, NETFLIX, and AIR FRANCE. I like to have more than three highlights in a themeless, I do.

3.33 stars from me. The debit column also had IN RE, UTA, LEM, IGN, DAH, and ELOI, which brought no thrills.

I’ve just sent my monthly e-mail to Patrick asking if I’ve missed a level to his crossword. Usually it’s because I’m worried that I’ve overlooked a level of Blindauer Brilliance, which often happens to be the case, but here it’s because I’m genuinely not sure which way the theme is going. I’ll give you my thoughts and then see whether the author has written back to set me straight.

The three theme entries are phrases that can follow DIAMOND:

17/35-a [DIAMONDS ...] = ARE A GIRL’S / BEST FRIEND. That first part looks like “Area Girls” at first glance.

49-a [DIAMONDS ...] = ARE FOREVER

67/78-a [DIAMONDS ...] = ON THE SOLES OF HER SHOES. From the Paul Simon song.

Then at 1-a there’s also BLOOD clued as [Word with diamonds]. On the positive side, that keeps the theme symmetry [not true, this grid isn't symmetric at all! see below] by offsetting SHOES; on the negative side it’s inconsistent with the other themers since “Diamonds” follows “blood” instead of preceding it.

Next up we have two DIAMOND rebus squares in the NE and SW:

Up top it’s [Singer-songwriter inducted into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame in 2011] for NEIL(DIAMOND) crossing (DIAMOND)HEAD clued as [Volcanic tuff cone of Oahu]. I’m going to arbitrarily add .05 to his score here for including the phrase “volcanic tuff cone.”

Downtown we have the once-in-a-lifetime clue [Phillips head?] rescuing the icky partial LOU(DIAMOND), which crosses (DIAMOND)STUD clued as [Piece of expensive jewelry].

But wait, there’s more! The notepad instructs us to “Connect the circles in alphabetic order, then return to the beginning.” As you can see from the diagram, connecting the circled A-B-C-D-E and then returning to A gives us the shape of a diamond gemstone. Nifty.

So that’s a lot of diamond action, isn’t it? There’s a mishmash feel to it, with several inconsistent elements (BLOOD at 1-a, two of the three DIAMONDS… answers starting with ARE but not the third, the two rebus squares), but I have to admit it was a fun, rather trippy solve as new elements kept emerging. It reminds me of this puzzle by Liz Gorski where she threw everything but the kitchen sink into the grid from 5 different directions, yet somehow made it all work.

OK, time to backpedal a bit: Patrick writes to remind me (I had e-mailed him about this but then forgot it until he replied) that the two diamond rebus squares in the corner are suggestive of two smaller diamonds cradling the larger diamond in a ring setting. OK, that is cool! So the two rebus squares are not inconsistent at all but rather lock in nicely with the overarching idea.

Also: in the opening paragraph I mentioned confusion about which way the theme was headed. I meant that I thought there might be a baseball diamond tie in, pushed in that direction by the title “Places for Bases” and the two rebus squares in the corners (plus we’re in the midst of baseball season). As I went on that seemed unlikely, and indeed Patrick has informed me that there’s no intended baseball element to the puzzle.

So that’s a lot going on. With all that themage you can expect some clunkers in the grid (LAA, HOU, LER, OLA, ELE) but he also snuck in TACKLE BOX, RED LIGHTS, TRAIL MIX and I DID SO. Only right now while looking for TRAIL MIX’s 8-letter counterpart do I realize that this grid is not symmetrical. Sneaky.

I will be clicking either the 4 or the 5 button, not sure which yet. This puzzle is not a flawless diamond, but it’s a diamond nonetheless.

So glad that 39a [Sang rhythmically] wasn’t LALAED as I feared it would be. LILTED.

Worst for last: 37d [Fly appendage] BALANCER. What?! As far as I know, they’re simply a sort of chromosome found in the genome, and have no relationship whatsoever to any physical appendages. Unless it’s about something like flywheel calibration, this is a very sloppy clue.

Disappointing, erose puzzle.

Jack McInturff’s Los Angeles Times crossword – Gareth’s review

LA Times130802

My favourite part of today’s puzzle by Jack McInturff is the revealer: OHYOU is a fun, colloquial answer in its own right, and perfectly describes what’s going on in the puzzle: O’s are switched to U’s in this bumper Friday theme. I say bumper, the five theme answers (plus the revealer) occupy 70 of the 187 white squares! The theme answers today are:

20a, [Gap that's easy to bridge?], MINIATUREGULF. Cute answer!

28a, [Prize for neatest coloring?], KINDERGARTENCUP. And another!

36a, [Kiss while hiking?], TRAILBUSS. Is that bit of American slang still current?

49a, [Alien adopted by Herman and Lily?], THEGREENMUNSTER. I think I’ve watched The Munsters once? Isn’t it in black and white? Hard to tell who’s green then? (I don’t mean that as a slight on the entry!)

70 theme squares is an awful lot, so your IDE/ILE/IOLA/ESO/NOS/ONOR brigade were out in force today! I don’t think it quite got out of hand though! There were even a few interesting longer answers: OFFMIKE, and the mid-day trio of KETCHUP, ATLUNCH and ORDERUP. More mysterious is another food answer, ALLA clued as [___ vodka: ristorante phrase]. Does that mean all orders are served with a shot of vodka? That’d be… odd.

With all the somewhat unavoidable weak short answers, it was vexing to see OEDS in a place that it didn’t have to be. I’d have used SULLEN/PREFACE/AGE/MEN in that corner myself.

3.5 stars. I’d be remiss if I didn’t leave you with a link to the [1973 Stones ballad], because it’s one of their best!

A relatively straightforward theme (four phrases that end with a type of “note”), but, as usual, a gnarly solve from this most challenging constructor from the CrosSynergy pool.

CrosSynergy / Washington Post crossword solution – 08/02/13

[Rhett Butler's daughter] was BONNIE BLUE – I think of jazz when I hear “blue note,” any musicians out there want to fill in the gaps?

[October 1962 chart-topper heard every October since] clues MONSTER MASH – I hear it was “a graveyard smash.” I had to look up what a mash note was, seems to be (surprisingly, given my relative advanced years), before my time.

[Computer cache] clues MEMORY BANK – I believe the bank refers to banks (or strips) of memory chips that sit on a PC (or other computer’s) motherboard. A “bank note” is another name for a bill of currency.

So straightforward theme, but oof! what a tough time I had with this, particularly the lower left and right. When there are two words you have never even seen before–I’m looking at you KNUT and you COWLINGS (now that I think about it, the hood of monk’s cowl reminds me of a jet engine’s housing)–and some characteristically misdirecting cluing, you know this one needs to be solved in pencil or at least erasable ink. Just a few clues “of note” among many that are remarkable:

[Hypothetical first words] was WHAT IF – I was thinking Genesis, not as in a hypothetical phrase

The alliterative [Duplicate door device] was a SPARE KEY – I don’t consider keys as “devices,” so that along with its unfamiliar neighbor COWLINGS became my Waterloo here. And don’t even get me started on the also never-before-seen crossing SCROOP ([Sound of a rusty gate]) – so that makes three new words today.

This roster is comprised of current Justices (Kagan, Breyer, Thomas), a recently retired Justice (Souter; 2009), a past Chief Justice (Warren), a couple of long-serving Justices (Black – 34 years, Douglas – 36 years; both appointed by FDR and retiring in the 1970s), and one historic and relatively long-serving Justice (Marshall, the first African-American appointee; 24 years). Seems a good mix. Also commendable that the great majority of the rhymes feature significant letter changes (all but Kagan and Black).

Circumstantial evidence:

Started out flying, plopping 1a AQABA [Port captured by Lawrence in "Lawrence of Arabia"] and the crossing 2d QUAIL [Patridge family cousin], whose clue didn’t fool me for a moment. The remainder of the solve was fairly quick and smooth, though the timer never started I’d estimate 10–11 minutes.

I had just enough toeholds in every section to allow a smooth solve. Kidney bean was my first entry and I quickly got ULULATE, CAYUGA LAKE and LIGHTSECOND. I usually have a lot more trouble with a Silk opus.

I guess I never really thought about it before, but I think we tend to stop using the adjective “late” after someone has been dead for a while – not sure what the time limit might be. Seems like it’s used as a reminder to someone who hadn’t heard/had forgotten that a particular person had died. Once they’ve been dead long enough for everyone to know it, the “late” is no longer needed. I don’t suppose it would sound “wrong” to refer to the late Dwight D. Eisenhower, but I don’t think you’d hear it very often.

If you think about it, the dictionary doesn’t support anything. Surely, you couldn’t build a house on it. When I was a toddler I tried building a log cabin on one and it moved and crumbled. I had the same experience with my tinker toys and erector set. So I gave up on the dictionary a long time ago. Now Wikipedia is another kettle of fish altogether.

“Language is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary makers, but is something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has its bases broad and low, close to the ground.”

(Just got home)… anyway, upon checking my trusty Random House 2, which I think is one of Will’s main references, I see that “Late” is also defined as “recently deceased” (def. 6). So the clue is certainly correct, even if that meaning may be somewhat unfamiliar to some solvers.

Of course around here, ululating is for weddings… Tough puzzle for me everywhere north of the Mason-Dixon line! Below it was just CAYUGALAKE/MAYS and BRADAWL/SALE (not wild on that SALE clue; yes a livestock sale is a thing, but really a sale is an anything mover) that was tough: had vaguely heard of both, but Y is not an obvious consonant!

Not the most exciting puzzle, but I approve of the generally fair challenge and quirky diagram!

Funny — Very smooth, gentle Fri. NYT for me which I liked much better than Amy. (That is, I liked the NYT much better than Amy liked the NYT. I like Amy much better than I liked the NYT. :-) Katz and Kidney Bean filled themselves right in; in fact the whole upper half was Monday speed writing for me. Helps that I’m keen on ululating. (!) Of course I’m the world’s slowest speed writer. There’s a word, (which has slipped my mind), which combines bizarre theology with medical quackery, to the effect that food which resembles an organ of the body is therapeutic to treat ailments of that organ. (The Cartesian argument that God would not deceive us, and such.) Anyone remember what I’m talking about?

My fave was {Hand picks} for plectrums, except that I think it should be “plectra.” When my brother was at Brown University, he used to sing:

High above Cayuga’s waters there’s an awful smell;
Some say it’s Cayuga’s waters, we say . . . Well, you get the rest.

I was on pace for a personal best Friday time by far, until that damn Brad Awl made an appearance in the Chesapeake Bay. No wind in my sails for a couple minutes.

Interesting that Deb knew people in the puzzle. Possibly Shiites. But when I was a rug rat, my father’s military job was briefing Dwight Eisenhower regularly at the Pentagon. So he was at our modest military apartment frequently, and he “bounced me on his knee”, as they say. I always thought that his eerily accurate, prophetic military-industrial complex speech helped secure his place in history as more than a military man, whatever else one may have thought of him.

There’s a word, (which has slipped my mind), which combines bizarre theology with medical quackery, to the effect that food which resembles an organ of the body is therapeutic to treat ailments of that organ. (The Cartesian argument that God would not deceive us, and such.) Anyone remember what I’m talking about?

That reminds me of the similarly bizarre concept of “maternal impression.” Going to see if I can figure out the name of the practice you cite.

I remember him with surprising clarity as a genial old man who, my parents explained to me, had done something very important and commendable in some war — a concept I didn’t fully grasp at the time. (Perhaps not now, either.)

re LATE: I’m not at home but I just checked some online dictionaries, and they all confirm LATE in this context as “recently deceased”. However, there is an exception: in the context of a relationship (Mr Jones and his late wife Mrs Jones), the death doesn’t necessarily mean recent.

The Times puzzle was smooth as silk for me, the way other people usually experience a Barry Silk puzzle and I don’t. They’re usually too hard for me. I found the “late” clue to be interesting. I didn’t know about this issue of a distinction between lately deceased and others. It makes sense, as in “of late” and so on.

re LATE — If writing wedding announcements or obituaries, you definitely don’t distinguish among the recently dead, deceased a while ago, and the long gone… Sorry, but the lost ones are still fresh memories to many. No — it’s always “the late” convention for close relations in such notices to spare people’s feelings. (A newer convention is to stick to using merely a “survived by —” mention in an obit, but that obviously won’t suit in other situations.) RIP.